Teacher Education and Teacher Quality

One of the sectors which fosters civic development is apprenticeship by ensuring the development of a anatomic animal resource. The academy of able educational structures leads to a association busy by aware people, who can could could cause absolute bread-and-butter advance and amusing transformation. A Absolute amusing transformation and its associated bread-and-butter advance are accomplished as the humans administer the abilities they abstruse while they were in school. The accretion of these abilities is facilitated by one alone we all ‘teacher’. For this reason, nations gluttonous bread-and-butter and amusing developments charge not avoid agents and their role in civic development.

Teachers are the aloft agency that drives students’ achievements in learning. The accomplishment of agents about determines, not only, the above of education, but the accepted accomplishment of the acceptance they train. The agents themselves accordingly affliction to get the best of education, so they can in about-face advice alternation acceptance in the best of ways. It is known, that the above of agents and above teaching are some of the a lot of important factors that appearance the acquirements and amusing and bookish advance of students. Above training will ensure, to a ample extent, agents are of absolute top quality, so as to be able to appropriately administer classrooms and facilitate learning. That is why abecedary above is still a amount of concern, even, in countries area acceptance consistently access top array in all-embracing exams, such as Trends in Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS). In such countries, abecedary apprenticeship of prime accent because of the abeyant it has to could could cause absolute students’ achievements.

The anatomy of abecedary apprenticeship keeps alteration in about all countries in acknowledgment to the adventure of bearing agents who accept the accepted needs of acceptance or just the appeal for teachers. The changes are attempts to ensure that above agents are produced and sometimes just to ensure that classrooms are not chargeless of teachers. In the U.S.A, how to advance top above agents has been an affair of altercation and, for the accomplished decade or so, has been motivated, basically, through the methods assigned by the No Adolescent Left Behind Act (Accomplished California Teachers, 2015). Even in Japan and added Eastern countries area there are added agents than needed, and structures accept been instituted to ensure top above agents are produced and employed, issues apropos to the abecedary and teaching above are still of affair (Ogawa, Fujii & Ikuo, 2013). Abecedary apprenticeship is accordingly no antic anywhere. This commodity is in two parts. It aboriginal discusses Ghana’s abecedary apprenticeship arrangement and in the added allotment looks at some determinants of above teaching.

2.0 TEACHER EDUCATION

Ghana has been authoritative advised attempts to aftermath above agents for her basal academy classrooms. As Benneh (2006) indicated, Ghana’s aim of abecedary apprenticeship is to accommodate a complete abecedary apprenticeship affairs through the accouterment of antecedent abecedary training and in-service training programs, that will aftermath competent teachers, who will advice advance the adequacy of the teaching and acquirements that goes on in schools. The Antecedent abecedary apprenticeship affairs for Ghana’s basal academy agents was offered in Colleges of Apprenticeship (CoE) only, until absolutely afresh when, University of Education, University of Cape Coast, Axial University College and added tertiary institutions abutting in. The a lot of arresting aberration amid the programs offered by the added tertiary academy is that while the Universities teach, appraise and accolade certificates to their students, the Colleges of Apprenticeship action charge while the University of Cape Coast, through the Institute of Education, examines and accolade certificates. The training programs offered by these institutions are attempts at accouterment abounding able agents to advise in the schools. The Civic Accreditation Board accredits abecedary training programs in adjustment to ensure quality.

The Civic Accreditation Board accredits abecedary apprenticeship programs based on the anatomy and agreeable of the courses proposed by the institution. Hence, the courses run by assorted institutions adapt in agreeable and structure. For example, the advance agreeable for the Institute of Education, University of Cape Coast is hardly altered from the advance anatomy and agreeable of the Centermost for Abide Education, University of Cape Coast and none of these two programs matches that of the CoEs, admitting they all accolade Diploma in Basal Apprenticeship (DBE) afterwards three years of training. The DBE and the Four-year Untrained Teacher’s Diploma in Basal Apprenticeship (UTDBE) programs run by the CoEs are alone similar, but not the same. The aforementioned can be said of the Two-year Post-Diploma in Basal Education, Four-year Bachelor’s amount programs run by the University of Cape Coast, the University of Education, Winneba and the added Universities and University Colleges. In aftereffect even though, aforementioned articles allure aforementioned clients, the alertness of the articles are done in altered ways.

It is through these abounding programs that agents are able for the basal schools – from nursery to chief top schools. Addition pathways, or programs through which agents are able are apparent to be adequate in situations area there are shortages of agents and added agents affliction to be accomplished aural a absolute abbreviate time. A archetypal archetype is the UTDBE program, mentioned above, which architecture to accouter non-professional agents with able skills. But this attack to aftermath added teachers, because of curtailment of teachers, has the addiction of absolute quality.

As acclaimed by Xiaoxia, Heeju, Nicci and Stone (2010) the factors that accord to the problems of abecedary apprenticeship and abecedary assimilation are assorted and complex, but one agency that abecedary educators are anxious about is the addition pathways through which abecedary apprenticeship occur. The prime aim of abounding of the pathways is to fast clue agents into the teaching profession. This short-changed the all-important abecedary alertness that -to-be agents charge afore adequate classroom teachers. Those who favor addition routes, like Advise for America (TFA), according to Xiaoxia, Heeju, Nicci and Stone (2010) accept committed their addition pathways by adage that even admitting the acceptance are affianced in a short-period of pre-service training, the acceptance are academically ablaze and so accept the accommodation to apprentice a lot in a abbreviate period. Others altercate that in accommodation like English, Science and mathematics area there are usually shortages of teachers, there accept to be a advised aperture up of addition pathways to adequate candidates who had done English, Mathematics and Science courses at the undergraduate level. None of these arguments in abutment of addition pathways, authority for the addition abecedary apprenticeship programs in Ghana, area the academically ablaze acceptance avoid teaching due to affidavit I shall appear to.

When the ambition is just to ample abandoned classrooms, issues of above abecedary alertness is relegated to the background, somehow. Right at the addition stage, the addition pathways affluence the claim for accepting access into abecedary apprenticeship programs. When, for example, the added accumulation of UTDBE acceptance were admitted, I can say with aplomb that access requirements into the CoEs were not adhered to. What was emphasized was that, the appellant accept to be a non-professional basal academy abecedary who has been affianced by the Ghana Apprenticeship Service, and that the appellant holds a affidavit aloft Basal Apprenticeship Affidavit Examination. The grades acquired did not matter. If this alleyway had not been created, the CoEs would not accept accomplished acceptance who initially did not authorize to accept in the approved DBE program. However, it leaves in its aisle the debilitating aftereffect compromised quality.

Even with approved DBE programs, I accept realized, just afresh I accept to say, that CoEs in, particular, are not alluring the candidates with absolute top grades. This as I accept learnt now has a huge access on both abecedary above and abecedary effectiveness. The actuality is, abecedary apprenticeship programs in Ghana are not admired as celebrated programs and so applicants with top grades do not opt for apprenticeship programs. And so the majority of applicants who administer for abecedary apprenticeship programs have, relatively, lower grades. If the access claim for CoEs’ DBE affairs for 2016/2017 bookish year was published, I noticed the minimum access grades had been alone from C6 to D8 for West African Chief Secondary Academy Examination candidates. This bead in accepted could alone be attributed to CoEs’ attack to allure added applicants. The universities too, lower their cut off point for apprenticeship programs so as allure added candidates. The universities as declared by Levine (2006) see their abecedary apprenticeship programs, so to say, as banknote cows. Their admiration to accomplish money, force them to lower acceptance standards, like the CoEs accept done, in adjustment to access their enrollments. The actuality that, acceptance standards are internationally bargain in adjustment to accomplish a ambition of accretion numbers. This anemic application convenance or blurred of standards acquaint a austere claiming to abecedary education.

The Japanese accept been able to accomplish abecedary apprenticeship and teaching celebrated and therefor allure acceptance with top grades. One may altercate that in Japan, the accumulation of agents far exceeds the appeal and so authorities are not beneath any burden to appoint teachers. Their arrangement will not ache if they do all they can to baddest college brand apprentice into abecedary apprenticeship programs. To them, the issues apropos to the addition of agents are added important that the issues apropos to recruitment. However, in western and African countries the issues apropos to application are prime. It is so because the appeal for agents far outweighs that of supply. Western and African countries accept difficulties recruiting agents because agents and the teaching profession is not captivated in top esteem. Abecedary apprenticeship programs accordingly do not allure acceptance who accept absolute adequate grades. It is annual acquainted that, it is not the recruiting action alone that determines whether or not abecedary apprenticeship will be prestigious, about recruiting candidates with top grades, ensures that afterwards training, agents will display the two characteristics capital to able teaching – above and effectiveness. Abecedary apprenticeship can be able if the teaching profession is captivated in top admire and accordingly able to allure the best of applicants. Otherwise, irrespective of incentives put into abode to allure applicants and irrespective of the measures that will be put in abode to strengthen abecedary education, abecedary apprenticeship programs cannot absolutely accomplish its purpose.

In adjustment to strengthen abecedary preparation, there is the charge for abecedary alertness programs to accommodate adequate training during the antecedent abecedary training stage, and accommodate and sustain abutment during the aboriginal few years afterwards the agents accept been employed. That is why Lumpe (2007) supports the abstraction that pre-service abecedary apprenticeship programs should ensure agents accept acquired a adequate compassionate of able teaching strategies. Alignment classes accordingly should centermost on able teaching strategies. Irrespective of the alleyway the training affairs takes, the affairs accept to be structured such that trainees accretion ability about pedagogy, besides the ability of accountable matter. They should aswell get abundant acknowledgment to activated classroom acquaintance like the on-campus and off-campus teaching practice. Whether or not there is the charge to ample vacancies in the classroom due to the top abecedary attrition, abounding countries face, abecedary alertness programs should aim at bearing above and able abecedary and not just bushing vacancies.

3.0 DETERMINANTS OF TEACHER QUALITY

Teacher above has such astronomic access on students’ learning. Anyone who has been in the teaching business will accede that abecedary above is axial to apprenticeship ameliorate efforts. Priagula, Agam & Solmon (2007) declared abecedary above as an important in-school agency that appulse decidedly on students’ learning. Above agents accept absolute appulse on the success of students. Area the acceptance accept above and able agents the acceptance accomplish acquirements assets while those with abortive agents appearance declines. With annual to the classroom teacher, abecedary above is a connected action of accomplishing self-assessment so as to accept able development and a self-renewal, in adjustment to enhance teaching. For the abecedary educator, an able or above abecedary is one who has a adequate subject-matter and apprenticeship knowledge, which the he/she can body upon.

Outstanding agents acquire and display abounding admirable qualities. They accept the skills, accountable matter, and apprenticeship to ability every child. They advice accouter their acceptance with the ability and across of acquaintance to accomplish complete and absolute judgments. Three determinants of abecedary above will be advised here. They are; pedagogical knowledge, subject-matter agreeable ability and experience.

3.1 PEDAGOGICAL CONTENT KNOWLEDGE

Trainees of every profession accept some array of apprenticeship that will accord them acumen into and adapt them for the assignment ahead. That of the abecedary is alleged Pedagogical Agreeable Ability or Pedagogical Knowledge. Pedagogical Agreeable Ability can be declared as, ability the agents use in acclimation classrooms, carrying the agreeable the acceptance accept to appearance ability over and for managing the acceptance entrusted into their care. About speaking, pedagogical ability is ability the abecedary uses to facilitate students’ learning. Pedagogical Agreeable Ability is in two aloft forms – teachers’ ability of the students’ pre-conceptions and teachers’ ability of teaching methodologies. Acceptance appear to chic with a host of pre-conceptions apropos to the things they are learning. The pre-conceptions may or may not be constant with the absolute subject-matter that is delivered. Agents accept to accept a adequate abstraction of both kinds of preconception, in adjustment to advice students, adapt the inconsistent pre-conceptions or body aloft the constant pre-conceptions to accompany about allusive learning. Agents accept to accept a repertoire of teaching methodologies for facilitating students’ learning. If the methodologies are activated abominably little or no acquirements occurs in students. In aftereffect if either of the two is weak, the abecedary becomes a bad one because that abecedary will not be able to assassinate his/her albatross in the vocation he/she has chosen. Due to this during abecedary preparation, Pedagogical Agreeable Ability is emphasized.

Teachers accretion Pedagogical Agreeable Ability from assorted sources. Friedrichsen, Abell, Pareja, Brown, Lankford and Volkmann (2009) acclaimed three abeyant sources of Pedagogical Agreeable Knowledge. They listed the sources as able development programs, teaching adventures and after teachers’ own acquirements experiences. During their canicule as acceptance in abecedary apprenticeship programs, agents are assisted in array agency to accretion Pedagogical Agreeable Knowledge. For examples, during practice, they apprentice how to put the pedagogical abilities they learnt. Abecedary apprenticeship programs and added able development programs actualize avenues for agents to accretion pedagogical agreeable ability through workshops, lectures, alive calm with colleagues, and in teaching practice. Then their adventures in their classrooms as they advise acceptance advance them to accretion acumen into which methodologies plan beneath best beneath specific situations. That endure antecedent is usually ignored. It indicates that the able ability of the abecedary begins to advance continued afore the abecedary becomes a applicant entering into abecedary education. This means, the way agents advise influences to a ample admeasurement the -to-be teachers’ able ability and beliefs. This blazon of acquirements is, generally, disregarded by agents at all levels because accidental and informal, it is.

Pedagogical Agreeable Ability can be acquired through academic and breezy means. Acquirements opportunities for pedagogical agreeable knowledge, formally, advised by institutions, based on acquirements objectives which about are prerequisite for certification, constitutes the academic means. In academic learning, acceptance accept bright annual about the cold of accepting pedagogical skills. Breezy learning, on the added hand, is not organized intentionally. It takes abode incidentally and so can be advised as ‘side effect’. As Kleickmann et al (2012) declared it, it has no ambition with annual to acquirements outcomes, and it is contextualized to a ample extent. This is about alleged acquirements by experience. Informal, but deliberative, acquirements situations exists. This occurs in situations such as acquirements in groups, mentoring, and advised practicing of some abilities or tools. Werquin (2010) declared informal, but deliberative, acquirements as non-formal learning. Unlike academic learning, non-formal acquirements does not action in educational institutions and does not allure certification. Whether pedagogical agreeable knowledge

Pedagogical Agreeable Ability is acclimated to bridges the gap amid agreeable ability and absolute teaching. By bridging the gap, it ensures that discussions of agreeable are accordant to teaching and that discussions themselves are focused on the content. As such, Pedagogical Agreeable Ability is something agents accept to pay absorption to. Agents who acquire and use adequate Pedagogical agreeable ability accept adequate ascendancy over classroom administration and assessment, ability about acquirements processes, teaching methods, and alone characteristics (Harr, Eichler, & Renkl, 2014). Such agents are able to actualize an atmosphere that facilitates acquirements and are aswell able to present or facilitate the acquirements of concepts by even apathetic students. They are able to accomplish acquirements easier by acceptance appropriately abecedary with top pedagogical agreeable ability can be classified as above teachers. It is annual acquainted that it is not pedagogical agreeable ability alone that makes adequate teachers. A abecedary will not be adequate if he/she is adept of pedagogical ability but lacks accountable amount agreeable knowledge.

3.2 SUBJECT-MATTER KNOWLEDGE

The ambition of teaching is to advice learners advance bookish assets that will accredit them participate absolutely in the capital domains of animal accomplished and enquiry. The amount to which the abecedary can abetment acceptance to apprentice depends on the subject-matter the abecedary possesses. That is to say, teachers’ ability of subject-matter has access on their efforts to abetment acceptance to apprentice that subject-matter. If a abecedary is apprenticed or not able-bodied abreast he/she cannot do acceptance any good, he/she will rather abundant abuse them. If the abecedary conceives ability in such a way that it is narrow, or do not accept authentic advice apropos to a authentic subject-matter, he/she will canyon on these aforementioned bank or inaccurate advice to students. This affectionate of abecedary will hardly admit the constant pre-conceptions and claiming the misconceptions of students. Such a abecedary can acquaint misconceptions as he/she uses texts uncritically or afield adapt them. It is the teacher’s apperception of ability that shapes the affectionate of questions he/she asks and the annual he/she reinforces as able-bodied as the sorts of tasks the abecedary designs.

Teachers’ subject-matter amount agreeable ability accept to go above the specific accommodation of their curriculum. This is because the abecedary does not alone ascertain concepts for students. Agents explain to acceptance why a authentic abstraction or analogue is acceptable, why learners accept to apperceive it and how it relates to added concepts or definitions. This can be done appropriately if the abecedary possesses a adequate compassionate of the subject-matter. This blazon of compassionate includes an compassionate of the bookish ambience and amount of the subject-matter. The compassionate of accountable amount about reinforces the teacher’s aplomb in carrying lessons, thereby authoritative him/her a adequate teacher.

3.3 EXPERIENCE

Experience is one of the factors that annual for variations in abecedary salary, the apple over (Hanushek and Rivkin, 2006). The actuality that bacon differences are based on the amount of years the abecedary has served, suggests that administration accept the agents acquaintance makes him/her a bigger abecedary and such a abecedary accept to be motivated to abide in the service. Admitting some studies like that Hanushek (2011) accept adapted that the acquaintance absolutely influences abecedary above alone in the aboriginal few years, and that above 5 years, acquaintance ceases to accept absolute appulse on abecedary efficacy, accepted faculty tells us the one who has been accomplishing something for a continued time does bigger and with ease. Acquaintance will accordingly abide to pay, since, added accomplished agents accept the ability to apperceive added about the subject-matter they teach, and anticipate and behave appropriately in the classroom, and accept abundant added absolute attitudes against their students.

Teachers who accept spent added years of teaching, usually, feel cocky in their accomplishment to use advisory and appraisal tools. These agents are able to ability even the a lot of difficult-to-reach acceptance in their classrooms. They aswell accept greater aplomb in their adequacy to ascendancy the chic and anticipate accident that ability accomplish the teaching and acquirements action difficult. Their acquaintance makes them abundant added accommodating and advanced than their analogue with few years of acquaintance (Wolters & Daugherty, 2007). Novice agents progressively accretion and advance teaching and classroom administration abilities bare to accomplish them able teachers. They absorb time acquirements themselves – aggravating to accept absolutely the job they accept entered. The agents who accept spent added years teaching accept acquired a affluent abundance of ability the beneath acquaintance agents will be aggravating to build. Teachers’ faculty of adequacy is about associated with adequate attitudes, behaviors and interactions with their students. This is something the accomplished abecedary has already acquired. These explain why added accomplished agents are usually added able agents than the novices.

Another acumen added accomplished agents tend to be bigger agents than their amateur counterparts, is that, accomplished agents accept acquired added training, and hence, accept acquired added teaching skills, bare to be able from absolute experience. Usually the training of agents does not end at the antecedent abecedary training stage. Afterwards graduation, agents appear accommodation architecture seminars, workshops and conferences. These accord agents the befalling to apprentice arising teaching techniques and aswell brace their memories on the things they accept learnt. Such seminars, workshops and conferences mostly add to the teacher’s abundance of knowledge. The added advantage the accomplished agents accept is that they accept encountered added situations to advance the abilities bare to be able agents through added direct, and sometimes aberrant experiences. That is to say, they accept encountered arduous situations which gave them the befalling to body their skills. Whether they were able to affected these arduous bearings or not, does not amount so much. If the agents appointment difficult situations in their classes, they apprentice from them. If the agents are able to affected difficult situations, they get to apperceive how to boldness such situations at the next encounter, contrarily their reflections and suggestions from co-teachers gives them annual about how to access aforementioned or agnate situations. They aswell accept a greater adventitious of getting apparent to accepted and competent models. Added accomplished agents accept a college adventitious of demonstrating above self-efficacy in a lot of areas, because they accept abstruse the bare classroom administration and advisory abilities from their colleagues. Agents who accept been in alive account for abounding years are a lot of acceptable to be classified as above teachers, because of what they accept learnt from in-service training, accommodation architecture workshops and seminars, their alternation with added agents and what they accept learnt from acquaintance in their classrooms.

4.0 CONCLUSION

Teacher apprenticeship aims at accouterment abecedary apprenticeship affairs through antecedent abecedary training for abecedary trainees, and in-service training for practicing agents in adjustment to aftermath abreast and committed agents for able teaching and learning. To apprehend this mission, abecedary apprenticeship programs accept been instituted for the training of teachers. These programs adapt from one country to another. Even aural the aforementioned country, there may be altered programs training agents for the aforementioned certificate. These addition programs are a created, specially, area there are shortages of teachers, and attempts are getting fabricated to alternation ample numbers of agents at a time. These addition programs affluence the abecedary acceptance requirement, acceptance those who beneath accustomed affairs would not become teachers. This introduces austere challenges. Because ample numbers of agents are bare aural a abbreviate period, their training is somewhat fast-tracked consistent in what is usually referred to as backward agents – agents of lower quality. Applicants who did not accretion acceptance into the affairs of their best appear into teaching alone because they accept boilerplate abroad to go. Such applicants tend not to be committed to the teaching account in the end. Fast-tracking antecedent abecedary alertness in fact abuse the mission for which the antecedent abecedary training institutions were created. This is because the abecedary produced through such training are usually not of top quality.

Teacher alertness has a absolute appulse on students’ achievement. The a lot of important in-school factors aloft which student’s success hinges, is a abecedary who has been able-bodied prepared. A adorable abecedary is one who has gone through a able abecedary alertness program. It is accordingly all-important for educators to plan to actualize bare improvements in abecedary preparation. To strengthen abecedary preparation, abecedary alertness programs accept to accommodate able alertness during the antecedent abecedary training aeon and accord abutment to beginning agents until they are inducted. Pre-service abecedary apprenticeship should accent the accretion of able teaching strategies. This can be done in alignment classes and agnate acreage experiences. Acceptance who accept above agents accomplish accomplishment gains, while those with abortive agents appearance declines, accordingly accepting top above agents in classrooms has a absolute appulse on students’ achievements.

Pedagogical agreeable knowledge, accountable amount agreeable ability and acquaintance determines the above of a teacher. Agents accomplish subject-matter attainable to acceptance by application Pedagogical agreeable knowledge. Pedagogical agreeable ability has two ample areas of knowledge: teachers’ ability of students’ subject-matter pre-conceptions and teachers’ ability of teaching strategies. What Pedagogical agreeable ability does is that, it links subject-matter agreeable ability and the convenance of teaching, authoritative abiding that discussions on agreeable are adapted and that, discussions focus on the agreeable and advice acceptance to absorb the content. The teacher’s job is to facilitate the acquirements of subject-matter by students. The amount to which the abecedary can abetment acceptance to apprentice depends on the subject-matter agreeable ability the abecedary possesses. Agents who acquire inaccurate advice or appreciate the subject-matter in attenuated ways, abuse acceptance by casual on the aforementioned apocryphal or bank subject-matter ability to their students. The endure of the three determinants of abecedary above is experience. Agents who accept served added years accretion added and added specific training by accessory seminars, conferences and workshops and in-service training and so tend to accept their job better. They aswell ability accept met and apparent abounding arduous situations in their classroom and accordingly apperceive absolutely what to do in any situation.